A group of suspected Haitian gang members fired this week on American forces protecting the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, in an incident that highlighted the tense security situation in the Caribbean nation.

Captain Steven J Keenan, a spokesman for the US Marines, wrote in an email that the shooting, which came to light this weekend, happened on Thursday, adding that the Marines returned fire.

No Marines were hurt in the attack.

Haitian police were not immediately available to comment on the exchange of fire.

Gangs control 90 per cent of Haiti's capital, where they extort businesses and fight for territory, using heavy weaponry.

The United States continues to operate an embassy in Haiti, but in recent years the State Department has issued numerous warnings telling Americans not to tra

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